The present invention generally relates to hand trucks or dollies, and more particularly, to a system for increasing dolly capacity.
Dollies are used to move goods. For example, dollies may be used to transport restaurant and office supplies from a delivery truck to a storeroom in a business. Dollies are also used to move furniture, equipment, and appliances, as well as, cylinders containing industrial gases. Generally, dollies have a vertical frame. A baseplate extends forward from a lower end of the frame and a wheel assembly is mounted on a back of the frame at the lower end. Handgrips extend from an upper end of the frame at a position where they are accessible by a user positioned behind the dolly. A user stacks boxes on the baseplate or slides the baseplate under a stack of boxes, tips the stack and frame backward so the load rests on the wheel assembly, and rolls the load to a desired destination using the handgrips to steer the loaded dolly to its destination.
Dollies are made in various widths for accommodating specific items. For example, appliance dollies are usually relatively wide and industrial gas cylinder dollies are relatively narrow. A typical dolly used to move restaurant and office supplies has a frame width in the range of about 14 to about 18 inches. This width is sufficiently narrow that most boxes and crates containing supplies span the frame and do not fall through the frame as the dolly is tipped. This width is also conveniently narrow to negotiate passageways stacked with boxes and crates, and to store the dolly in limited space. In addition, the width is sufficiently broad that the boxes and crates are stable as the dolly moves the supplies to their destination. Load instability can result in the boxes and crates tumbling from the dolly, potentially damaging the goods or injuring those next to the dolly. To increase dolly capacity, some dollies include vertical frame extensions that extend upward from the top of the frame to a height above the handgrips so goods may be stacked higher than the handgrips and safely moved from location to location. Although conventional dollies work well for their intended purposes, there remains a need for selectively increasing dolly capacity when moving larger loads.